At today’s open meeting, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) adopted a new rule that may be particularly helpful for variable energy resources (wind and solar) that, in the past, have been hit with pricey imbalance penalties, and for the transmission providers who have struggled to integrate those resources. The new rule adopted today requires transmission providers to provide generators with the option of scheduling transmission service on 15-minute intervals, rather than the typical 60-minute interval. With the shorter scheduling interval, generators will be able to better mitigate imbalance penalties, and transmission providers should be able to maintain reserves that more closely match the variable generation that is expected to be online. The bottom line–cost savings!
FERC also issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR) in which FERC proposes to revise its policies governing the sale of ancillary services at market-based rates. FERC also proposes to require transmission providers outside of organized markets (e.g. WECC) to take into account resource speed and accuracy in determining regulation and frequency response reserve requirements. That consideration may help to establish a stated need for fast-acting resources, such as certain energy storage technologies. The NOPR also suggests other regulatory changes that, in part, aim to provide energy storage technologies with better access to providing ancillary services.
We will soon issue full clients alerts on the results of today’s open meeting at FERC. If you would like to receive an electronic copy of our Energy Law Alerts, please follow this link: Sign Up – Stoel Rives Energy Law Alerts